By ROY HESS
Staff Writer
BEEVILLE — A football season filled with numerous highlights suddenly came to an end Friday for the Raymondville Bearkats.
The Bearkats suffered a 35-27 second-round playoff loss to the Geronimo Navarro Panthers at Beeville’s Veterans Memorial Stadium.
It was a tough way to end the season for the Bearkats, who built a 17-0 lead and were ahead 17-7 at halftime. But the Panthers got their ground game going during the second half and couldn’t be stopped. They scored four times in the second half and went ahead for the first time, 28-24, with 10:13 remaining.
“This is a tough one,” Raymondville coach Frank Cantu said. “We came in here wanting this game. We thought we could get it. Navarro came out and ran the ball like they had been doing before. We couldn’t get the stops when we needed them (during the second half). They scored on a fake field goal (to pull within 24-21), and that was crucial.
“I’m just so proud of every single one of our guys,” Cantu added. “They believed (we could do it). This group went 9-2 and did a super job. They set a high standard for the guys coming up after them. We got a little taste of it tonight, and we just want to keep it going. We want some more. We’ll be back.”
The Bearkats built a 17-0 lead during the first half on a 19-yard pass from Jacob Posas to Xavier Ledesma, an 8-yard run by Posas and a 35-yard field goal by Saul Garcia. Those scores gave them a three-score advantage with 7:01 showing in the second quarter after Garcia’s field goal.
The Panthers’ Moise Sims ran around the left side and into the end zone with 39 seconds left in the half to make it 17-7 at intermission. Teammate Euler DeLeon scored on a 1-yard run at the 7:17 mark of the third quarter to pull his team to within 17-14 of the Raymondville lead.
The Bearkats went ahead 24-14 less than one minute later when Zaraivion Armendarez caught a short pass from Posas and sprinted down the right sideline to the end zone on a play covering 87 yards.
Geronimo Navarro holder/quarterback Bryan Butler rushed for 8 yards to the end zone off a fake field goal to make it 24-21with 2:49 to go in the third period.
DeLeon broke through the line and sprinted 42 yards for a TD with 10:13 remaining as the Panthers took their first lead of the game, 28-24. Butler’s 6-yard run with 3:43 to play made it 35-24.
The Bearkats scored on a 30-yard field goal by Garcia with 2:31 left, but came no closer, even though they moved the ball to the Panthers’ 39-yard line during the final seconds.
The Class 4A Division II area-round victory advances the District 13-4A Division II runner-up Panthers (9-2) to next week’s third round of the state playoffs to face Rockport-Fulton or Crystal City. It was the third win in a row for the Panthers, who last lost to district foe Cuero 42-7 on Nov. 2.
District 16-4A Division II champion Raymondville (9-2) ended its season, as the Bearkats’ nine-game winning streak was halted. Prior to Friday, Raymondville’s last setback was 17-7 against La Feria to open the season Aug. 31.
In the bi-district playoffs last week, Raymondville beat Orange Grove 48-16 and Geronimo Navarro defeated Devine 34-30.